When the Man Comes Around
by DR Fronkensteen
Summary: The reapers are invading. Civilizations are falling. In the midst of war, two friends meet again. This time, they may be enemies. M for language/violence.
1. Chapter 1

_And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts..._

_And I looked and beheld, a pale horse_

_And his name that sat on him was Death_

_And Hell followed with him_

-Revelation 6:6, 8

Chaos. It's an interesting sound. At times, it sounds like static. Just incomprehensible noise, drowning everything out; consuming all of the senses. Other times, you can feel everything. Hear every scream, feel the searing white-hot pain, experience the agony of millions of broken hearts. Then it becomes overwhelming, you become numb, and it just fades out to static again. It goes back and forth, endlessly. Sometimes you could even swear you hear your name being called out among the hoards of screaming masses...

"Castus? Sergeant!"

Vox snapped his head up, away from the singed wall he had been staring at. He looked at the young officer that stood before him, waiting.

"We're going out again. Get your troops moving."

"Yes, sir." Vox's voice was hollow. Grabbing his rifle, he struggled to his feet. Everything ached. He and his squad had been run ragged the past few days. They'd been targeted by orbital bombardment from the Reapers. The most frustrating thing about watching your friends and family die was not being able to shoot back.

He paused for a brief moment before entering the hall where his platoon was waiting. It was the only place most of the soldiers could stay. The hospital that they were staying in had been evacuated at the start of the invasion, but had already been refilled. There were rumors that the shuttles took all of the evacuated sick and hospital staff to a "safer" location... A location that was promptly attacked and destroyed by a Reaper. It was almost funny, in some kind of sick and twisted way.

"Alright..." Vox approached his platoon. "Orders are coming in soon. Get ready to move. Everyone check your gear, and check a squadmate's gear." His omni-tool gave an alert tone. Vox flicked it on and read the message that floated above his arm.

"You know where we're going, Sarge?" A young private spoke up.

"Right down the road. It looks like Reaper ground forces are making a push, we're going to head them off." He turned off his omni-tool as a cold feeling swept over him.

"About time we get a real fight." Another private, a particularly loud-mouthed one named Marcius, boasted. Vox shot him a glance. A large portion the platoon was young-no older than 17 for most of the low level ranks. None of them had really encountered anything up until this point.

"Take pride in the opportunity to defend Palaven, your family, and your fellow soldiers. Fighting is meaningless without those things." There was a pause for a moment where everyone was quiet. "We move out in ten minutes, be ready."

Vox turned to head back to the officer's meeting room. The bustle had increased. Much like himself, many others were now on the move with their newfound orders. And it didn't feel like a healthy kind of bustle, either. It was a mixture of nerves and restlessness. Everyone was eager to move, but everyone also knew that their chances of coming back were slim to none.

The officers room also buzzed with activity, but it was more hushed than that of hallways. The beeping of consoles and omni-tools almost drowned out the hushed conversations.

"Sir." Vox snapped a salute in front of Lieutenant Kurlus, his platoon officer. "Second Platoon is ready. They'll be assembling outside as we speak."

The Lieutenant was silent, merely returning the salute and then returning to his omni-tool. "Form up with them, and get moving. I'll be with Third Platoon. Keep an eye on your comms for any word from me. Dismissed."

Vox saluted again quickly before moving towards the door. Just before leaving the room, he saw a video feed from one of the perimeter scouts go dark. There was a small flurry of activity around the console. He paused for a moment to watch some of the other feeds. A few seconds later, another went dark. Vox didn't waste any time-one going down could have been a tech problem. Two within moments of each other could only mean the Reaper ground forces were much closer than they had thought.

He rounded a corner, avoiding patients and medical staff as they rushed towards the more protected parts of the building. The building gave a low groan and shuddered. The lights flickered once, came back, and then went dark. After a gap of a few seconds, the emergency lighting activated. It wasn't much, but at least now it was possible to see. Vox was practically running now, dodging through the crowded hallways.

"Corporal! Can you hear me?" He yelled into his headset.

"Yes, Sarge, I got you." A voice came through.

"Make sure you and the other squads are ready to go as soon as I get there. I'm two minute-" Another loud rumble interrupted. The floor actually shifted slightly. This broke Vox's pace for a moment. He corrected. As soon as he did, the hallway in front of him disappeared into a fireball. There was a split-second sensation of weightlessness. Clamping his eyes shut and protecting his face, he braced for the inevitable impact with the ground.

His landing was much harder than he expected. It was enough to knock the the wind out of him, but the turian was able to recover quickly. Scrambling to his feet, he felt the floor tremble again. This time, it didn't stop, dropping almost a meter before he could stand. It dropped once more. He could feel himself starting to slide down the hallway, toward a gaping hole where flames continued to shoot through. Unfortunately, there were no footholds to stop his slide. Vox realised this, and again braced himself for impact. He took a deep breath in and held it. After passing though a brief but very intense heat, he slipped off the edge. He hit the ground harder this time, but was able to roll away from the impact.

Immediately, he scrambled to his feet. His face stung, but was greeted by a breeze of cool air. Half of the building-the half that housed most of the hospital patients and staff-had been carved away from the building. It was simply gone. All that remained were steep piles of flaming rubble.

"Sarge! Over here!"

"Marcius!" Vox spotted the young soldier crouched down behind a collapsed pillar. Vox crouched low and made his way over. "Where's the rest of the platoon? Did they make it to the muster point?"

"No. We got separated on the way there."

"Yeah. Same thing happened to me." Vox peeked over the pillar into the debris strewn courtyard. There were no enemies in sight. That could change quickly, as the sounds of battle were still deafening.

"I was able to get new orders before our comms went down." Marcius flashed his omni-tool. "Fall back to the secondary rally point."

"Right. Then that's what we do." Vox checked his rifle one last time while taking another look over the pillar. "Alright, here's the plan. I'm going to run to that collapsed statue up there, and you're going to cover me. As soon as I get there, I'll cover you so you can get up to that car over there. We'll do that until we're clear of the courtyard."

"Got it, Sergeant."

"Keep low, and remember your training." With that, Vox climbed over the pillar, landed on his feet, and raised his rifle. He started a moderately paced run towards his goal, still going slow enough that he could aim down his sights effectively. There were bodies strewn everywhere. Civilians, medical staff, soldiers. Even the occasional husk. It looked like there were different kinds, other than the familiar human type. He didn't stop to get a closer look.

"Got you covered. Move up." Vox spoke quietly into his headset. He kept his eyes forward, although the private's footsteps could be heard running across the dirt. Only a moment later, Marcius passed him, diving to cover behind the wrecked skycar ahead.

Vox came out from around the statue, moving faster this time, but still scanning his surroundings. The sounds of battle had quieted. This wasn't calming in the least-the only thing it could mean was that the Reapers had overrun Hierarchy positions.

"See that alleyway? We're both going for it; don't stop unless someone starts shooting at us."

"Got it." Marcius whispered into his own headset. The two turian soldiers moved as quickly as possible, nearing a full sprint as they closed on the narrow alleyway. Vox swore he could feel something chasing them, more of an ominous feeling than anything else. Finallly, he slid to a stop behind one of the thick walls. Marcius was right behind, coming to a much less graceful stop.

"See if you can...link back up with anyone out there... We'll probably have new orders." Vox breathed heavily in between sentences. He scanned the skyline once more. Thick black smoke billowed from everywhere. The tops of the larger buildings couldn't be seen. The occasional flash through the smoke reminded him that combat was still going on at much higher altitudes. And this wasn't even one of the hardest hit areas. In most of the larger cities, the tallest things on the skyline were piles of dead bodies and rubble.

Marcius stomped a foot in frustration. "I can't seem to get a steady link. They're still broadcasting, but the signal keeps getting dropped."

"Then keep trying. If you don't get anything in five minutes, we'll go to the initial fallback position." Vox thought to himself intently. The link to HQ was there, they just couldn't keep a connection. That meant something was in between them causing interference. Vox turned his attention back towards the sky. There was a sound-very low and very fiant. He braced himself against the building nearby, trying to listen to the sound. The metal wall began to resonate along with the low sound. It quickly became louder, and at the same time changed pitch.

"You hear that?" Vox looked at Marcius, who was still struggling with his omni-tool.

"Yeah."

"We're moving now-" The sound jumped in volume, drowning out his voice. It stopped for a moment before continuing, so loud that everything seemed to shake. Movement above caught their attention. An enormous shape emerged from the smoke. It was unrecognizable at first simply due to its sheer size. Vox thought it was the top of a building or a military ship that had been brought down, at first. But then a red light lit up the smoke, illuminating the thing's silhouette. It was a Reaper. Unmistakably. Images of Sovereign flashed through his mind. This one was smaller, but it _was_ a Reaper. He watched as a leg emerged, trailing billows of smoke behind it as it disturbed the air. The ground shook as it walked past and a beam of fiery red energy erupted from the single red eye that had first illuminated it. Explosions rocked everything, sending loose debris tumbling down on top of them. It must have been shooting down ships and fighter wings.

"Spirits..." Marcius whispered. "How are we supposed to kill something like that?"

Vox glanced at him. He thought back to the Battle of the Citadel, about how much of the fleet it took to take Sovereign down. Turning his gaze back to the Reaper walking slowly by, he flicked his mandibles, adrenaline heating his blood.

"We don't. Not not without a lot of help."

It was amazing how such a thin layer of transparent material could insulate against so much. Although muffled, the raging winds outside sounded more like a raging river. It was a particularly bad storm this time. The usual landscape was completely obscured; it was as if someone had put a coat of white paint over the outside of the glass.

Nick put a hand against the cool surface. Goosebumps ran down his arm. He wiped his chilled fingers across his forehead, closing his eyes for a brief moment. The temperature inside was a mild twenty-one degrees centigrade, with varying amounts of humidity depending on which labs you visited. Even though traveling outside would mean freezing to death without a constant source of heat, it didn't feel all that much different than staying inside.

Nick had been working in the labs on Noveria going on three months now, working almost non-stop. Being trapped in that environment felt almost as cold as the frozen wasteland; the bright synthetic lights, the smooth steel walls, the eighteen hour work days. Apart from the occasional beautiful view of the landscape, if it wasn't snowing, they were given a kind of "virtual interface" type programs to keep morale up. Usually things like sunny beaches and warm forests. They did little to stave off the feeling of cold isolation. Each time you woke from one of the simulations was like waking from a great dream, already knowing it was a dream. It left one... empty.

"Specialist O'Neil. Report to med bay two. We've got an incoming specimen."

Nick took another deep breath, again wiping his forehead. He tapped the flashing key on his omni-tool.

"On my way." He spoke softly into his hand. The omni-tool flashed again, then vanished from view. Nick began making his way down to the correct lab. His team was responsible for learning how the reaper ground forces killed- and then develop better defenses for personnel-things like improved armor and shielding. It felt like they weren't making much progress. Every time they deployed an improved system, the casualties kept coming in as if they'd done nothing at all. Of course, there wasn't any choice other than to follow orders.

The doors to the med bay swished open with a breeze of cooler and slightly drier air. The med labs were intentionally kept a few degrees lower, as their primary function at this point was for autopsies. Nick flung a thick apron on, and pulled on a set of rubber gloves.

"What do we have this time?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Banshee." A voice answered simply from behind. Doctor Eben Reid was the project manager here.

"We have a banshee? I thought they collapsed in on themselves upon death." Nick furrowed his brow. He clicked on his omni-tool as he approached the autopsy table.

"No. This soldier was killed by a banshee..." Dr. Reid corrected him.

A Cerberus Guardian lay on the table. Its armor was dark and scorched. Dried blood had creeped out of the many joints in its armor.

"He's relatively intact. Usually all we get are a few pieces at most." Nick commented, beginning a scan of the corpse.

"Take a look at his riot sheild." The doctor pointed to the corner of the room. The Guardian's shield was propped up against the wall. It was scorched beyond recognition. In its center was a hole about twenty centimeters wide, with its edges bent inwards.

"God damn.. He's still dead, but this is improvement." Nick remarked at the shield. "We hardly have anything come back from a banshee intact."

The doctor agreed silently. "Start the autopsy, please." He spoke without looking up from a data display.

As Nick began by pulling the armor segments from the dead soldier, something nagged at him. "One question doc... Has this one been... Improved?"

"All front line soldiers get combat modifications."

At the same moment, Nick removed the corpse's helmet. A husk-like face greeted him-it was almost familiar at this point. Grey skin, tiny metallic circuits where veins used to be, its eyes still glowing faintly even after death.

"Damn... I know they're combat improvements, but they still creep me the hell out."

"Relax, O'Neil... Modifications only apply to front line troops... You're working in a support capacity." Reid glanced up at him briefly before going back to the data display.

"Yeah. But how long until this _is _the front line?"

"It won't be," Reid moved around to the opposite side of the autopsy table. "There's plenty of them in between us and the front line." He nodded to the Cerberus assault trooper standing guard in the corner of the room. "And as long as we continue to be useful, you can guarantee the Illusive Man has your back."

"Hmm... Comforting." Nick mouthed under his breath, tossing a glance back at the assault trooper. "Here's to Cerberus, then." He said louder, continuing to peel scorched armor from the corpse.


	2. When the Man comes Around, Chapter 2

"_Third Battalion_ _Central Command communications... State your business, and make it fast._"

"First Sergeant Vox Castus, Second Platoon, status report."

Static.

"_Go ahead with your report." _

"Second Platoon... What is left of Second Platoon has completed primary objective. On board krogan troop transport vessel currently evacuating Palaven. Heavy casualties, secondary objectives failed."

"_Command copies... Upload your casualty report_."

Vox pressed one of the floating keys on his omni-tool. There was a tone and series of beeps as the information was sent. A small block of text scrolled by as the transmission went through. The print was tiny and it scrolled quickly. He was able to catch glimpses of familiar names. He closed his eyes until the transmission had finished.

"_Transmission recieved. Command out-_"

"Hold on, Command," Vox spoke as his eyes shot open. "I know nothing is going to come of this, but I want it heard. Most of us hate that we are leaving. Most of us would rather die on Palaven than leave it. I can tell you wherever we are sent, morale is going to be lower than if we stayed. Adding a shaky alliance with the krogan isn't helping to calm anyone's nerves, either."

"_Command hears you; we will relay the message. Proceed to the rally point with the krogan and you will get new orders as soon as we have them_." There was a brief pause filled with static. The almost robotic voice suddenly took on a much different tone, a much more tired tone that was reminiscent of someone that had seen the front lines. "_May the Spirits be with you... Command out._"

Another burst of static, and Vox's omni-tool went dark. His earpiece silent, the jostling and groaning of the krogan ship was audible again. The ride was finally calming down.

The krogan alliance was something that had been totally unexpected. Most of the Hierarchy was reluctant to accept any help, but you don't have much time to make a decision with hundreds of thousands of Reapers knocking on your front door. Help is help when you're facing extinction, even if it is help from a mortal enemy. Most of the turians weren't upset about being forced to work with the krogan. Most were upset that the plan included evacuating millions from Palaven and sending them somewhere else. Like any good Hierarchy soldier, they wanted to defend their homeworld. Anything else was a distraction.

Apparently, the whole human-turian-salarian-krogan alliance had been organized by none other than the great Commander Shepard. Vox chuckled to himself. The Commander was becoming such a legend that it was almost unbelieveable. Turian soldiers would half jokingly mutter things like "Shepard save us" and "May Shepard watch over your soul". Vox could only imagine how terrible the jokes must be among Alliance military ranks.

A tone from his omni-tool grabbed his attention.

"Sergeant." A deep krogan voice growled into his earpiece. "I assume your communication went out without an issue?"

"Yes." Vox replied in a monotone voice. The transmission went out using the krogan ship's communications array; no doubt that they had listened to the entire thing. Urdnot Raze was a very capable captain, but he suffered many of the same failings as the rest of the krogan race; aggressive, angry, and violent, topped off with a heavy distrust of turians.

"Good. Because I have something you need to take care of. It looks like one of your soldiers is causing some issues down on the crew deck... I suggest you get it resolved before I have you scrubbing the turian blood off of my decks-"

Vox cut off the channel before the krogan captain had a chance to finish. He stomped his foot before taking off down the hallway. He entered an elevator near the aft portion of the ship. It was occupied. The few awkward moments of silence seemed to last forever as the lift screeched along. The krogan occupant could sense Vox's disgust and restlessness, letting out a faint chuckle as the turian tore out of the still opening doors.

The jeers of an angry crowd were audible from the hallway. Their shouts and rumbles were bouncing off of the cool metal walls, almost filling the entire deck. There were a few krogan scattered throughout the hall, most of them hardly even giving the rushed turian a passing glance. It was only a few seconds before the sounds of Vox's footsteps were drowned out.

"Get out of my face, krogan," someone snarled from somewhere amongst the scattered groups of turians and krogan in the ship's hold.

"Why don't you make me, bareface?" a distinctly krogan voice growled back.

"What did you call me?" the turian yelled.

"You heard me," the krogan chuckled. _"Bareface."_

There was a collective laugh from the krogan in the room. Marcius, the turian soldier that had been involved in the yelling match, turned to scan the crowd. In that second, the krogan who had been engaged in the yelling match shoved him from behind. Marcius spun around, landing a heavy blow to the side of his opponent's face. It made a cringe worthy wet thud that almost sounded like a watermelon being crushed against the ground.

Vox was at a full run now, shoving members of both races out of his way. He leapt into the brawl, hitting Marcius with a heavy punch to the gut and then throwing him to the ground. The young turian hit the ground hard, twisting and squirming for breath on the cold floor. In one fluid motion, Vox was also able to land a kick to the krogan's knee cap, bringing him down for a moment. In less than a second, his pistol was drawn and pushed firmly against the krogan's skull.

"If _any_ of my people hit you first, feel more than free to defend yourself." Vox spoke in a low tone, the room quickly becoming quiet to hear him speak. The faint but angry buzzing of his pistol could even be heard. The krogan that was being held at gunpoint was looking up with almost a smug look. He was daring Vox to pull the trigger. "But if you strike first, be prepared to be hurt." They stared each other down for a few more seconds. Vox looked up, scanning the now completely silent room around him. It seemed as though almost everyone had drawn a weapon and was now pointing it at someone else.

He raised his pistol, flicking it back into storage mode, and secured it to his belt. The rest of the room reluctantly lowered their weapons. He shot a look of disapproval down at Marcius before making his way back towards the door. Before reaching the exit, he paused.

"If I were human..." Vox spoke loudly this time, making sure the room was paying attention. "I would probably say something about putting aside our differences to work together against a common enemy." He paused again, scanning the crowd. "But I won't. I just don't want to be known as a turian who died at the hands of a krogan during this war with the Reapers. I'm sure the krogan could say something similar." Vox turned and made his way out of the room, not even giving a second glance over his shoulder.

This time the elevator was empty. He stepped inside, selecting a random deck. He didn't have to be anywhere. He wanted nothing more than to be off the krokan ship. Of course, that wasn't an option at this point. His omni-tool comm link chimed yet again. It was the krogan captain.

"That was pretty impressive. You handled that more diplomatically than I would have."

"I wouldn't call it diplomatic, considering I had a gun to one of your men's head." Vox mused, looking about the elevator. "How did you see?"

"I like to keep an eye on my ship..." Raze explained. "Especially with guests aboard."

"So what... You have vids of every deck? Security cams? Omni-tool hacking?"

"Something like that."

Vox laughed. "You must fancy yourself as the next Shadow Broker." He had an image of an old, heavier than usual krogan wasting away in front of dozens of video screens in his head. He made a quick glance around the elevator to look for a camera.

"Listen, I didn't call you to joke around. I have an incoming transmission. It's for both of us. I'd also like to talk to you in person for a change."

"Command deck, I assume?"

The captain grunted a response before closing his comm link. It was only a short journey to the command deck from the lift. Sure enough, the krogan was planted in front of a dozen or so flickering screens, some of them dirty and others with cracks spiderwebbed across their surface.

"Have a seat." Raze nodded to a chair opposite of the consoles. Vox strode into the room, passing the chair. He stood with his hands folded behind his back. The krogan punched a few more keys at his console before most of the screens at his station went dark.

"Let me make this clear." Raze started, turning his chair to face Vox. "I don't like this alliance any more than you do."

"What I 'like' doesn't matter, I'm following orders." Vox answered, looking down at the krogan.

Raze responded with a low chuckle. "Always business, aren't you? Well then, I suppose I'll quit wasting your time." He clicked an icon on his panel, and the screens sprung back to life. An Alliance officer was now on the displays, wearing his battle fatigues rather than dress blues.

"This is Lieutenant Tran with Alliance Command. We are now working with the turian Hierarchy and the united krogan clans. Any orders contained within this message can be regarded as coming from your own Chain of Command."

"Huh. Taking orders from humans." Raze shook his head. "Never thought I'd see the day that would happen."

The message continued. "Sergeant Vox. You and your platoon are to report to Pinnacle Station. You'll receive further instructions once you arrive. Captain Raze, you are to continue to assist in the evacuation of Palaven. I've forwarded contact information to you for Hierarchy Command. Get in touch with them for your assignment briefing. Alliance Command appreciates the efforts of the turians and krogans against the Reapers. Good luck out there." The message ended, the

screen flashing static briefly before going blank.

Gaining a certain amount of seniority in Cerberus was an odd affair. The organization was efficient with well defined ranks and responsibilities. At times, especially when whatever horror was being conducted behind closed doors, it almost felt like being in the Alliance. A hefty portion of the rank and file meant well; they wanted to save themselves and all that they knew from the Reapers just as much as anyone else. Everyone had a job and knew, more or less, how to do it. It was when you started to rise up the ranks that you noticed something different. A type of cold and calculating feeling. You start to find out about the terrible things Cerberus does. At the same time, you ignore them. It starts out by turning a blind eye, slowly starting to twist and contort your mind until you find yourself defending some of the most heinous things you can imagine. Nick didn't know how long it would last, but he would like to keep his conscience as clear as possible. If Cerberus was going to perform experiments on civilians, he at least didn't want it to happen where he could see it. He was, after all, the chief technician for the upper levels of the Noveria labs. There was only one person that could override him if he didn't want those kinds of terrors going on under his watch.

"Dr. Reid... Where is he?" Nick breathlessly asked as he glanced around the room. He hadn't been running, but he felt like he had run a marathon. A mix of half rage and half panic.

"Hm?" Matthews, one of the other lab technicians, raised an eyebrow. Nick blew right past him right into one of the secured labs. He was halted by the second set of double doors. A red light flashed over the door and a computer voice sounded.

"_Contamination detected. This lab is sensitive to biological contaminants. Please remove contaminants and don a clean suit before entering." _

"Is Dr. Reid in this lab?" Nick asked impatiently.

"_Dr. Reid is present in this lab,"_ The VI answered in a flat male voice. _"This lab is sensitive to contaminants. Please remove contaminants and don a-"_ He cut the VI off by punching in his emergency bypass code into the control panel just to the side of the door, muttering under his breath as he did so. The red light blinked, turning green before the door opened. He strode into the brightly lit, pristine room. Other Cerberus workers clad in white suits and face masks shot him looks as he walked past. Most likely he had ruined some of their experiments.

"May I ask why you thought it was necessary to enter without a clean suit?" Dr. Eben Reid asked, without looking up from the display of microorganisms on his desk.

"You didn't answer my calls." Nick answered testily.

Reid was dismissive. "That's because I'm busy."

"No, you need to hear about this _now_. Did you see the new shipment lists for next week?" Nick pulled up the list on his omni-tool. "_Live_ test subjects?"

Reid ignored him, pulling up a large holographic display of Reaper nanobots attacking a cell on his table in front of Nick.

"Hey, we're not talking about a live husk here!" Nick shouted, waving a hand at the hologram, causing it to zoom out of view to the other end of the table. "Living. Human. Test. Subjects." He emphasised, placing a pause in between each word.

"It makes me uncomfortable, too." Reid shook his head. He pulled the white mask off of his face and wiped his brow. "But if it gives us an edge in this war, then I'm willing to allow it."

"Are you _kidding me?"_ Nick shouted with a nervous laugh. "Do we know where the hell they're even getting these people from? Not that it matters."

Reid shrugged a shoulder slightly. "They haven't told me."

"Figures." Nick closed down the list that was still up on his omni-tool.

"But I don't think we have a choice," Reid said, "so I'm going to go ahead with it. It could move us months ahead in some of our more... critical experiments."

"Will they survive?" Nick leaned up against the table. He was no longer looking at Dr. Reid.

"Oh, most certainly not. There's no way we could get any useful data and still keep them alive. I had hoped to keep them in a vegetative state as well, but that's not possible either." The doctor stood from his chair and straightened his wrinkled white suit. "Don't worry, we will all do what we have to, to get through this war." He started to walk away, leaving Nick standing at the table. "You can start by decontaminating this lab."


	3. Chapter 3

Sunlight. It had been forever since Nick could remember feeling the real thing. There were simulations on Noveria, in the recreation center of the Cerberus facility, but they never were like the real thing. He pointed his face towards the sky, his eyes closed, as a cool breeze blew past. A chill ran down his spine as goosebumps formed across his body. Opening his eyes, he smiled. The view was beautiful; a perfect green field sprawled out before him, a lake off in the distance. Dark green trees dotted the landscape. The late afternoon sun accented the sparse sails from boats on the lake. He felt...at peace.

A woman called his name. Nick turned, seeing a woman in her late twenties walking towards him with her arms held open for a hug. She had dark hair, pulled tight in a bun. Her skin was tanned, her face nearly flawless. She wore a loose fitting dress that flapped lightly in the breeze. He could almost see his reflection in her brown eyes. She smiled, just as beautiful as the landscape around her. As they embraced, Nick felt a tug at his shirt hem. He turned, seeing a young boy no more than six or seven years old, smiling up at him. He had the same eyes as the woman.

Nick paused for a moment. He didn't know who either of these people were, but he loved them. Loved them unconditionally, and he never wanted this particular moment to end. He felt pure happiness as he knelt down and wrapped the little boy in a hug. The boy mouthed something into his ear, but Nick didn't even hear a whisper. He took the boy by the shoulders, moving him back so he could see his face. The boy's smile was gone, replaced with an almost blank expression. The boy's lips moved again, and again Nick heard nothing.

Suddenly, the ground shook beneath them. There was an incredibly loud sound, like a fog horn. It was so loud it seemed to penetrate his body, shaking his insides into a mess. His head suddenly erupted into the most intense pain he had ever felt. It was as if someone was twisting a rusty nail into both of his eyes.

"NO!" he screamed, covering his ears and clamping his eyes shut. "NO NO NO!" He could feel his throat strain with each scream, but he could not hear his own voice over the loud sound that had everything around trembling. He fell to his knees, the soft grass that had just been underneath him replaced with crumbled concrete and ash. He opened his eyes. The landscape, the lake, the trees were all gone. Off in a nearby ditch lay the lifeless bodies of the woman and child. They were soaked in blood and burned, their matching eyes staring blankly up at the sky. In every direction was destruction, like a city had been obliterated. The air was thick with smoke. He looked up. It looked as if the sun had moved closer, taking up the entire sky. It changed color from orange to a deep red. Nick could feel a cold intelligence coming from the red orb, a presence, intent on one goal. It wanted something from Nick, and it would rip it from his mind if it had to. The sound pulsed again, somehow louder this time. Nick's head was pierced by more pain. He screamed.

"_What do you want?_" he yelled. The sound boomed again, along with more pain. He knew what it wanted, but couldn't say. He couldn't say, it would ruin everything. "_I don't know what you want!_" He screamed again. It felt as if his eyes were being mashed into the back of his skull. He could feel the tears flowing down his face as his screams turned into sobs. "_I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW!_"

Nick bolted upright, his arms swinging wildly. He slid off his bed, landing on the cold tile floor with a thud. He rubbed his face, taking deep breaths of the cold, dry air. He kicked off the blankets that had been entangling his feet. His head was pounding, but the sharp, searing sensation was gone.

"Lights!" Nick managed to grunt. The lights in his room flashed on, instantly blinding him. He grimaced. "Reduce brightness," he croaked out. The lights dimmed slightly but Nick was still unable to force his eyes all the way open.

"More." He groaned, sitting up while rubbing his eyes. The lights were finally at a comfortable level and his room slowly came into view. The Cerberus accommodations were certainly not spacious, but they weren't cheap either. The temperature, humidity, and even a slight breeze could be controlled by voice commands. Almost any flat surface bigger than a few square centimeters could project a high resolution display screen. Any vid or audio you could think of could be pumped into the room with just a word to the to the VI. It was comfortable to live in, to say the least, if your idea of comfortable was modern convenience at the cost of never feeling the sunshine again.

There was a quick spell of dizziness as he pulled himself to his feet. After tossing his blankets back onto his bed, he stumbled over to the closet sized restroom of his quarters. Nick looked in the mirror after splashing some cool water on his face. He was pale. More than just lacking in natural sunlight, he looked sickly pale. His face was gaunt and his eyes were sunken. He had not noticed any rogue strands on his pillow but he could swear even his hair appeared to be thinning.

He looked at the small holographic screen that hovered over the corner of the mirror. It displayed the time, a short list of Nick's responsibilities for the day, and any private messages he had received. The time was especially surprising-had been asleep for more than ten hours, but it felt as though he had only slept an hour at most. He knew he should eat but he wasn't hungry in the least. He even had skipped dinner last night to go to sleep early.

Nick was certain he had the same dream again. He would wake up in sheer terror night after night then forget most of it only a few moments later. He could remember a couple fleeting glimpses of faces he didn't know, and a bright red light. As he got dressed he strained his mind to recall more details of the dream. The only reward for his effort was a pounding headache. Giving up, he downed a couple of painkillers with a swig of cold water. At least now he would have to force himself to eat something if he didn't want to deal with an upset stomach for the rest of the day.

The lights out in the corridors were almost unpleasantly bright. It was like stepping outside on a bright summer day with the worst hangover of your life. Nick bumped carelessly into a couple of people before his eyes had fully adjusted. There was an unusual bustle in the compound today. The war with the Reapers had been escalating, and the newly formed alliance between Council and non-Council races was putting the pressure on Cerberus. An outsider wouldn't realize it but Cerberus was more vulnerable than they looked. The Illusive Man wasn't stupid; he was putting his money to where it would be the most effective: research. It would be tough to win a war against the Reapers, humans, krogan, turian, salarian, asari and a few other races without a serious technological advantage.

"Holy shit, Nick." Matthews, one of the lab technicians, remarked as they both entered the cafeteria. "You look just like I feel."

Nick let out a hollow chuckle and shook his head. "I think Noveria is finally getting to me." He shot a glance over his shoulder. Matthews didn't look great either. He too looked unnaturally pale with dark circles under his eyes.

Nick moved over to a panel on the wall. On it, a handful of food selections scrolled by. Nothing appealed to him. He chose the top option of scrambled eggs and toast. There was a slight whirring and a tray slid out of a small alcove on the wall. Nick grabbed a glass of ice water and took one of the first seats he could find.

The eggs made Nick feel nauseous. They were rather unappealing, most likely some sort of artificial protein paste dyed yellow, with plenty of salt added in for flavor. At least he was able to choke down bites of dry toast in between sips of water.

"Been getting any sleep?" Matthews grumbled as he plopped his tray down opposite of Nick.

"Surprisingly, I have." Nick grabbed the cold glass of water and held the side of the already-sweating glass against his forehead. He closed his eyes against the hellishly bright overhead lights. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to make small talk. "I just feel like I haven't. Even been going to bed earlier."

"Huh." Matthews poked at his plate with a fork. "Same here. Also a headache I can't seem to shake."

Nick raised an eyebrow and opened his eyes, shooting an inquisitive look over at the technician. "Seen the doc yet?" He took another bite of toast.

"Yeah, two days ago. Said I was totally fine, nothing to worry about. Gave me some painkillers and a sedative. I think I'm going to stop taking them, been having some pretty messed up dreams."

Nick's brow furrowed as he picked at his food. "What kind of dreams?"

"I dunno, it's hard to remember them. I think it's about Omega, though. Lots of death, disease..."

"Omega, as in the shithole space station?" Nick felt his heart rate increase.

"Yep." Matthews muttered into his mug as he took a sip of coffee. He grimaced, as if the beverage was either too hot or too bitter, and set the mug down. "Funny thing is, I've never been there. Never even looked up vids of it before." He spun the mug around on the table a couple times as he pondered something. "How about you?"

"Omega? I lived there for the better part of a year. Worked in a clinic, lots of death and disease."

Both of them sat in silence for a moment, thinking to themselves. "I've been having strange dreams as well. I don't think it's the drugs, I haven't been taking anything to sleep. I can only remember flashes, pictures of it..." Nick rubbed his face, trying to remember as much as he could. "There's a woman. And a boy, probably seven years old. And a lake... It has to be Earth."

"Were there sailboats?" Matthews asked slowly.

Nick stared at him. A pit had opened up in his stomach. "Yeah." He could feel his heart pounding in his throat and the sweat as it beaded along his hairline and on his palms.

Matthews started frantically typing at his omni-tool, eyes wide and brow furrowed. "I grew up near a lake." Nick could tell he was now flipping through images. "We still visit every once in awhile. Go sailing, swimming..." He trailed off.

Matthews held out his arm. An image floated in mid air,projected from his omni-tool, of him with two smiling others. A woman and a young boy were wrapped around either side of him. They were the same people from Nick's dream.

"They were still on Earth when the Reapers hit. I haven't heard from them in forty-four months."

Nick's fork hit his plate with a startling clatter. He stood abruptly, leaving Matthews staring, mouth agape. As he strode quickly towards the elevator, he turned back. "I'm taking you off duty for today."

Matthews stood. "But you're not in my chain of command-"

"But I _am_ medical. I can refer anyone if I think they need evaluation. Go see the doc as soon as you can. I'll let him know why I've sent you." Nick typed out a quick message on his omni-tool as he waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive.

"A-alright." Mathews stammered out.

Nick entered the elevator as the doors opened. There was only one thing he know of that could cause memory transference, strange dreams, and headaches with no perceivable cause. Reaper indoctrination. It was only a matter of finding out where the signal had been coming from-a Cerberus experiment, or the Reapers themselves.

"_Time to target.. Five minutes. Make sure your crews are buckled up; blizzards don't make for a smooth ride." _A staticky voice chimed into Vox's headset. He double checked his harness, also glancing around the cramped shuttle at his squad as they all did the same. Marcius looked appropriately nervous. The young turian seemed to flinch in response to every little bump that the shuttle made. The other three members of his squad were all human from an Alliance Special Ops group. They were headed for a cerberus fighter base. He was weary, from his briefing it sounded like alliance intelligence wasn't being entirely up front about everything.

"Everyone hear?" Vox spoke loudly. "Less than five minutes."

Camryn watched the young turian sitting across from her. He looked nervous, his eyes squeezing shut and his mandibles flaring to bare his teeth with every little hiccup and bounce the shuttle made. As they descended further through the clouds, the turbulence grew worse and the poor kid looked like he might be sick; a film of sweat across his forehead gave his thick, metallic carapace-like skin a glossy sheen. Double checking her harness, Cam made sure her team was also secure and then returned her attention to the young man across from her.

"Hey," she called, having to raise her voice over the din in the hold from the wind and straining engines.

His eyes snapped open and he looked at her, eyes wide. His gaze flicked over her scarred face and his eyes got even wider. "Me?"

Cam smiled. "Yeah, you. What's your name?"

He wiped a gloved-and-armored hand over his face. "Uh," he paused, as if he'd forgotten his own name for a moment. "Marcius. I'm Marcius."

"Nice to meet you, Marcius. I'm Camryn." Straightening a leg, Cam bumped the toe of her boot against his shin since she couldn't lean forward to shake his hand. "We're gonna be fine, Marcius. These Kodiaks can take fifty-cal weapons' fire. A little blizzard isn't gonna drop it. Trust me; you can fly one of these through a Cat-five hurricane, unscathed."

Marcius let out a short, nervous laugh and wiped his hand along his fringe. He pulled on his harness straps even though they couldn't be pulled any tighter. "It's not the storm I'm worried about," he shouted, "I've never fought Cerberus before. I've heard all the stories about what they do to aliens." His mandibles flared in a shaky smile. "Storm's not helping the nerves, though."

"They're human, Marcius," Cam told him. "They bleed and they die. Shoot them in the head and they'll die faster. Use your omni-blades up close and armor-piercing ammo, concussive rounds and grenades at range."

Glancing around at everyone crammed together in the Kodiak's hold, she raised her voice to carry to every ear. "Everyone, pay attention! With this blizzard, they won't see us coming until we're right on top of them. But they will have troops coming out to meet us before we've even deployed so boost your shields be ready to return fire before you jump. Some of them will be carrying riot shields so any biotics among us need to disarm them of those before we can engage them. Armor-piercing ammo, grenades, concussive rounds and heavy weapons only; their shields and armor are heavy. And this is Noveria; it's gonna be _cold as fuck,_ so keep an eye on your weapons and gear. The wind and ice will also fuck with your ammo, so pay attention to your range computer. We're gonna have a hell of a fight on our hands, but we are turian and human! Together, nothing can stop us! _OO-RAH!_"

"_Oo-rah!" _the humans bellowed, followed by the turians shouting, _"Hoo-ah!"_

The atmosphere in the hold changed then; fire burned in every pair of eyes and electricity sizzled through the air. Marcius still looked nervous, but Cam knew he was ready.

There was a sharp deceleration as the shuttle reached the ground. As soon as the G-forces eased up, Vox undid his harness and jumped to his feet. He smacked the hatch opening button, the door sliding open with a low buzz. The wind instantly filled the cabin of the shuttle.

"Remember, silenced weapons and takedowns until we're discovered. On my lead." Vox spoke with authority, his voice now echoed into the headsets of the other team members. He drew his rifle and jumped. The shuttle was only about a meter over the snow, but it might as well have been a thousand. The pure bleached whiteness of his surroundings, combined with the lack of visible horizon made for a very disorienting experience. Luckily he had a heads-up display that could guide him to their objective.

"Everybody ready?" Vox asked, glancing over his shoulder. He just caught a glimpse of the shuttle lifting into the blizzard, it quickly disappearing from view. His team was in their standard formation behind, ready to go. After a quick nod he took off running at a brisk pace. Cerberus had thermal sensors all over the place. They were the most efficient way of detecting any visitors, as the temperature on the planet trended around and below 0 degrees Celsius all year round. Granted, the team did have thermal insulation, but fairly sensitive thermal sensors could detect even the miniscule amount of heat if the team lingered in one place for too long.

"Everyone hold it!" Marcius interrupted their run through the snow. His was low and serious. "I just stepped on something?"

"Was it ice?" Someone quipped.

Vox ground to a halt in the crunchy snow. He knew the tone of the young turian's voice meant he wasn't overreacting. "Everyone halt. Get low and spread out." Vox ordered. He could see Marcius' position on his heads-up display a few meters away. "What is it?"

"There's a humanoid form under this snow. I tripped over it." Marcius explained, still not visible in the blizzard. "It's frozen solid."

"Cerberus?" Vox asked as Marcius came into view. He was kneeling on the ground, his omni-tool hovering over the faintest bump in the snow.

"See for yourself..." Marcius stepped back a couple of steps. Vox squinted, trying to get a closer look at what had been discovered. Some of the snow around the figure's head had been pushed away.

"Husk." Vox announced into his headset, his stomach sinking."Human." Its face was frozen in an unsettling, contorted grimace. It looked as it had been trying to claw its way through the snow up until the exact moment it was frozen.

"Not the only one either." Marcius held up the display on his omni-tool. There were signatures posted on a map all around them. "I'm seeing at least thirty, frozen in the snow around us, all within about fifty meters... Not all of them are husks. Some are human, some are partially transformed, and some are wearing Cerberus gear."

Cam knelt down beside a hump in the snow and dug the banked snow away from the body's head and face. It was the frozen remains of another human husk. Nero squatted down beside her and poked the husk's head with the barrel of his rifle. Looking up, Cam squinted through the heavy blustering snow at all the other conspicuous lumps in the snow on the platform.

"What...the ever-loving _fuck?"_ she said as she stood, stepping over the body. "How did they get outside? Did they escape or did Cerberus let them out and watch to see what happened?"

Vox cringed he heard the dramatic reaction to the deceased reaper forces. He didn't know why, but things like this bothered him. He felt like people were pretending to be surprised by death and destruction when it had become as common and natural as breathing.

Rising, Nero turned and moved forward. "Anything could've happened, but I wouldn't put it passed them to let them out and watch the aftermath. Not all of them are completely transformed, and from what I've seen on the uncovered bodies, none of them have those lights in their bellies where they're impaled on the husk-ifying spikes. They were changed chemically somehow, and then escaped. Or were let out."

Nero's younger brother Pax came up behind Cam, his shoulder bumping hers as he turned to make a surveillance sweep. "Whatever happened, it's fucked up."

"Agreed," Cam murmured, following Nero forward and passing him as he paused to peer over the railing of the platform. Turning, she motioned to her team to move out, then cupped her hand over the microphone arm of her visored headset. "Move it, diamond formation. Keep your heads on a swivel."

"Why haven't they sent out troops to meet us?" Staff Sergeant Saren Artaxias whispered. "I thought we'd be swarmed before our boots hit the deck."

"So did I," Cam replied.

"Look at their radar dishes and comm towers," Lieutenant Danielle Sharp gestured toward the roof of the complex. "They're covered in ice."

Cam looked up and smirked. "The element of surprise is on our side for once. Me likey."

"At least until we enter the facility…" Vox chimed in as he closed the scanning readout on his omni-tool. "Let's keep moving." He hoisted his rifle back up to a ready position. It actually wasn't too far from their objective. A few hundred meters ahead of them lay an old maintenance tunnel. To spite its cold climate, Noveria was a hotbed of corporate research. That was likely why Cerberus moved in, either taking over research facilities via business buyouts or by force when no one was looking. The planet was crisscrossed with old tunnels connecting research buildings, since abandoned and retaken by the snow.

One of these tunnels was their objectives. Cerberus wasn't immune to cost saving measures when building bases. They had used the foundation of a destroyed research facility to build on. That facility had old access tunnels that had since been frozen over-and Cerberus had forgotten to integrate them into their security systems. Somehow Alliance intel had figured this out. Good thing too; without it their chances of success would have been nil.

"Alright, this is it. Form up." Vox stopped and took a knee, his breath still quick from running. Out in front of him was a barely noticeable bump in the snow, a few meters long and a couple wide, and only a few centimeters higher than the snow around it. "Marcius, plant the eezo charges."

"Got it, eezo charges." Marcius echoed back. He jogged ahead of the group, planting the devices in the snow in accordance to the diagram in his heads-up display. There was a reason they were using these over conventional explosives. How else would you shred up a few tons of rock and ice without creating a heat signature?

Cam knelt down behind a berm and her squad all stopped and knelt or squatted practically in unison. Marcius dug the snow away from the tunnel hatch and planted the eezo charges, primed them then scrambled away, sliding behind a berm next to Sharp. She grabbed his upper arm to stop him sliding under the railing they were next to and dragged him back up. He glanced around at everyone, then ducked his head down, bringing the detonator up to his chin.

"Three," he began, and everyone else hunkered down lower, "Two. One."

He squeezed the red trigger on the detonator. The charges rapidly flashed and beeped three times, then went off. A blue-purple-black cloud shot through with white streaks of electricity went up, disrupting the swirling snow with a shockwave that was distinctly visible in the blizzard. The explosion shook snow from every flat surface on the platform and cracked the sheet ice; a large chunk of ice broke away from an exterior wall and went crashing to the ground, shattering into a cloud of glass-like shards. Everyone held their breath as the ice shards plinked off their kinetic shields. People inside the facility _had_ to have heard that. They waited thirty seconds, but nothing happened. No alarms, so mad scramble to arms, no Cerberus troops pouring through the doors. Everyone glanced at each other, locking eyes momentarily, then Vox motioned for everyone to move out.

Cam stood and swept forward over the ice-covered ground, now cracked and uneven, and stopped beside the Sergeant. She pointed to Saren and then to the blasted-open tunnel hatch. Nodding once, the slim turian dashed over to the hole, crawled over the debris pile, and dropped through. Cam covered her ears to drown out the howling wind and listened through the radio link to Saren's breathing as he walked. Suddenly there were the sounds of a scuffle and a stifled cry-everyone went rigid but Cam held up her fist.

"Staff Sergeant," she hissed. "Artaxias, status report."

"Just a maintenance engineer, Commander," Saren panted. "All clear."

"Copy."

Cam gestured for her team to move out and followed them to the tunnel entrance. Pax went down first, followed by Sharp, then Nero, then Cam. Grunting, she shook the fiery tingle out of her feet as she stepped away from the debris pile.

"Careful, Sergeant," she warned Vox, "it's a ten foot drop onto rubble. Don't twist any ankles coming down."

Vox let out a short chuckle. "Don't jinx it." He said as he jumped, landing on the cold cement gracefully. "Did I use that right? Jinx? I've heard humans say it before…" He trailed off as he scanned the tunnel that stretched out in front of them with his omni tool. Things were going perfectly to plan. No alarms- Yet. Vox took the lead again. He began marching down the tunnel with his rifle at the ready. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Lets do this." He muttered in a low voice.


End file.
